Obama Hopes to Surge Forward…a Little Bit

Well, Mr. President, it’s about damn time. Since General McChrystal asked for more troops (all the way back in August) our president has finally made a decision about it. But before I get into all that, I have to take issue with the amount of time it has taken Mr. Obama to develop this plan. I mean August was what, 4 months ago, and this quote from Gen. McChrystal is all too telling:

“Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near term (next 12 months) — while Afghan security capacity matures — risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.”

Well, Obama’s already managed to waste 4 months out of those 12, and how many American deaths have there been in Afghanistan since then? August was the deadliest month yet for our troops and these chilling charts show the dramatic rise in death since we first sent troops there.

There have been too many deaths while Obama has played golf, basketball, and focused on other things rather than winning the War on Terror. So, Mr. President thanks for finally doing something.

Now what about that something he has decided on? I have three issues. The first is this: Rush made a great point on his show today about that fact that Obama traveled to West Point to make his speech rather than doing it from the Oval Office. So why all the pomp and circumstance? In my opinion it is because Obama has no credibility on winning the War on Terror. And so he must create this artificial backdrop to look presidential. What better way to do that than to give the speech in front of all our troops dressed in their military finest. It certainly makes a fine looking spectacle.

Second, I, like many Americans am tired of the war, but at the same time I want to win. I want our troops to come home victorious in battle. I don’t want all these years of fighting to be for not. And while I’m glad Obama is finally sending troops there, I wish the focus would be on defeating terrorism for good rather than having a lets-sort-of-do-something-and get-this-over-with-as-fast-as-possible-so-I-don’t-make-my-base-mad-at-me kind of mentality. I just don’t see how we as a country can be successful with that type of mentality. We must be focused on victory. But if McCrystal says Obama has given him what he needs, then so be it.

Finally, Obama talked about the cost of the these wars and about the toll it has taken on the American people economically. Well, yes that is true, but it infuriates me when Obama complains about the cost of freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq, yet has no problem with spending trillions on big government programs like health care, stimulus, and cap and trade. Priorities please!

I know that war is devastating, and innocent people are always destroyed by it. But sometimes it is a necessary evil. We cannot forget 9/11 and the 3000 innocent people that lost their lives that day. We cannot forget the millions of people we liberated during WWII, and we cannot forget that war is how we won our independence as a nation. Now we are fighting the tyranny of terrorism and we must not stop until that evil is rooted out and destroyed. After all, Bin Ladin is still out there, and he still hates America.

I’ve been impressed (this rarely happens) with how the media has handled Ted Kennedy’s death. If you know anything about Kennedy, you know his political career was far from a fairy tale. I expected all of the turmoil to be glossed over as it often is when a political figure or entertainer dies, but so far what I’ve read has shown Kennedy truthfully- a flawed, yet influential and well-loved senator.

Even though I didn’t agree with all of his political stances, I do admire one thing in particular- his consistent fight for the things he believed in, despite his failed presidential campaigns and a lot of personal drama. He remained active on those issues until the end, showing him to possess incredible courage to stand for what he thought was right.